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The purpose of this study is to examine the willingness to boycott among Malaysian consumers towards the surrogate products associated with Israel. The present study was based on the previous and an ongoing war and conflict in the Middle East.

Several surrogate products associated with Israel were selected. A total of 468 respondents from various backgrounds participated in this study. Analysis was performed using multiple regression analysis (MRA).

Results showed that three factors were significant in predicting the willingness to boycott. They were animosity, subjective norms and product judgments. Anticipated emotions (both positive and negative emotions) were found to be insignificant in predicting the willingness to boycott the surrogate products.

The present study addresses the boycott intention in Malaysia where multi-races and multi-religions exist, in the context of the ongoing war and oppression by Israeli government toward the Palestinians. The results have some implications to multinational firms, especially those perceived to have direct links with the aggressors.

The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate and ascertain the effects of integrative motivation on the willingness to participate in boycott activities.

This paper uses a mail survey to examine the relationships among six constructs in a boycotting issue context, in order to explore Chinese consumers' willingness to boycott against Japanese products or services with the fallout from a Japanese former PM's continuous visits to a controversial war shrine since 2001.

The findings suggest that there are significant and positive pairwise relationships between boycott participation and three factors (i.e. animosity, efficacy, and prior purchase). High animosity towards Japanese goods and the other two constructs, at the high end of the attitude spectrum, increase the level of willingness to engage in consumer boycott practices.

Consumer boycotts are a worldwide and historic phenomenon in modern society. As the number of protests grows and as local authorities recognize the economic and political impact of such activities, then multinational companies (MNCs) and host countries begin to see the historic and cultural perspective of these events in addition to the conventional consumer behaviour perspective. To enable boycotting to become less harmful, MNC management need to understand what makes local consumers so affronted. The results of the evaluation can potentially be generalized towards a strategic analysis of the boycott model in other hostile market situations.

The findings of this paper offer pivotal implications for decision makers and the management of those Western multinational enterprises who are concerned with increasing their share of the world's largest consumer market. In particular, Japanese MNCs need to pay much more attention to the oppressed and potentially explosive emotion of animosity as the legacy of past conflicts (i.e. war, economic, political, etc.) between Japan and China.

This paper aims to examine non-Muslim consumers’ willingness and motivation to boycott American-based companies operating in Malaysia, where Islam is prominent. The underlying base used in this study is an on-going boycott spurred by the Palestinian/Israel conflict in the Middle East.

Two products were selected based on their market presence: consumer familiarity and product affordability. A total of 340 completed questionnaires were obtained from non-Muslim university students and validated by partial least squares approach.

Three factors were found to be significant in predicting willingness to boycott, which were self-enhancement, perceived egregious behavior and country image.

This paper addresses boycott motivations from the context of Malaysian non-Muslims quantitatively, based on an issue strongly related to Muslims. The results may have some implications on multinational firms, non-government organizations, policymakers as well as consumers.

This research aims to address ethnocentric consumers’ willingness to boycott dual origin brands, in the particular case of national brands linked to a very specific regional origin, through analysing the paradox of (unfavourable) regional ethnocentrism versus (favourable) consumer–brand relationship (i.e. brand identification, trust and love) on consumers’ decision to buy or boycott those brands in that circumstances. Building on social identity and cognitive dissonance theories, this study aims to examine the Spanish consumer relationship with national brands originated in Catalonia considering the current conflicting circumstances in the region.

The authors collected data by means of personal questionnaires, distributed among 277 Spanish consumers of Catalan brands of Cava. The data is analysed by using structural equation modelling and linear structural relations.

After controlling for brand familiarity, the results of this study reveal that ethnocentrism negatively distorts consumers’ confidence in dual origin brands and highlight the role of identification and trust as brand love antecedents. It also reveals that ethnocentrism has a more profound impact on boycotting decision than brand love.

This study is one of the few to capture the puzzlement created by the paradoxical nature of the brand’s duality of origin. Furthermore, it contributes to the marketing literature by examining the impact of ethnocentrism on two relationship variables (i.e. identification and trust) and exploring their joint impact on consumers’ decision to buy or boycott. The findings of this study can be helpful for companies facing boycotting behaviour triggered by ethnocentric consumer reaction towards dual origin brands.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo abordar la disponibilidad de los consumidores etnocéntricos para boicotear las marcas de origen dual -en el caso particular de marcas nacionales vinculadas a un origen regional muy específico-, mediante el análisis de la paradoja del (desfavorable) etnocentrismo regional versus la relación (favorable) entre el consumidor y la marca (es decir, la identificación, la confianza y el amor a la marca) en la decisión de los consumidores de comprar o boicotear dichas marcas en esas circunstancias. Partiendo de las teorías de la identidad social y la disonancia cognitiva, este estudio examina la relación del consumidor español con las marcas nacionales originales de Cataluña, considerando las circunstancias conflictivas actuales en la región.

Los datos se recogieron mediante cuestionarios personales, distribuidos entre 277 consumidores españoles de marcas catalanas de Cava. Los datos se analizaron utilizando modelación de ecuaciones estructurales y relaciones estructurales lineales.

Después de controlar la familiaridad con la marca, nuestros resultados revelan que el etnocentrismo distorsiona negativamente la confianza de los consumidores en las marcas de origen dual y destaca el papel de la identificación y la confianza como antecedentes del amor por la marca. También revela que el etnocentrismo tiene un impacto más profundo en la decisión de boicotear que el amor por la marca.

Este estudio es uno de los pocos que captura la confusión creada por la naturaleza paradójica de la dualidad del origen de la marca. Además, contribuye a la literatura de marketing al examinar el impacto del etnocentrismo en dos variables relacionales (la identificación y la confianza) y explorar su impacto conjunto en la decisión de los consumidores de comprar o boicotear. Nuestros hallazgos pueden ser útiles para las empresas que se enfrentan al comportamiento de boicot provocado por la reacción etnocéntrica de los consumidores hacia las marcas de origen dual.

This study empirically investigates whether and how boycott attitudes and subjective norms influence the impact of the perceived behavioral control of boycotts on boycott intention.

To test our hypotheses, we perform a hierarchical linear regression analysis using data from Japanese (n = 500) and South Koreans (n = 571).

Boycott attitudes strengthen the positive effect of perceived behavioral control on boycott intentions for Japanese and South Koreans. Contrary to our assumptions, while the direct impact of perceived behavioral control on boycott intention is not significant, there is a negative moderating effect of subjective norms for Japanese consumers.

We argue that when perceived behavioral control is evident in boycotts, consumers listen more to themselves than to others. Our cross-national analysis of actual boycott campaigns is the first study on boycott research to offer implications for the interaction effects among the three key antecedents of psychological motivation factors in the theory of planned behavior.

Drawing on the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to conduct an empirical investigation on whether and how psychological and motivational factors (i.e. attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control) affect actual purchase behavior. It does so through the lens of boycott intention and gender differences in the context of boycott campaigns.

Focusing on the South Korean boycott campaign against Japanese companies, this study employs a structural equation model using survey data from 571 South Korean consumers to test the hypotheses.

While the three psychological and motivational factors inhibit all three dimensions of actual purchase behavior (i.e. purchase frequency, number of items purchased and purchase amount) through increased boycott intention, perceived behavioral control of boycotts directly curb South Korean consumers from purchasing Japanese products. Additionally, the effect of boycott intention on overall actual purchase behavior is stronger for men than for women, suggesting a moderating role of gender.

To mitigate the devastating impact of unexpected consumers' boycott campaigns, this study advises that global brand management and attractive online channels are essential while considering the differential impact of gender.

By conceptualizing three dimensions of actual purchase behavior capturing behavioral changes before and after a boycott, this study highlights the linkages between psychological and motivational factors, intentions and behaviors. Additionally, this study attempts to clarify the previously conflicting evidence on gender's role in boycott campaigns while taking a culture-inclusive psychologies approach to gender.

This study aims to investigate how unethical corporate behavior of pharmaceutical companies affects consumer behavior of German consumers, especially boycotts of over‐the‐counter drugs.

Borrowing from psychological theory as well as consumer behavior theory, the study develops a conceptual model that considers affective and cognitive determinants of boycotting behavior. Within the scope of the German pharmaceutical sector, the researchers conducted a survey to validate the research hypotheses using moderated regression analysis.

Individuals' inclination to join boycotts and engage in boycott communication results from anger about animal testing, perceived immorality of pharmaceutical companies' corporate behavior and negative corporate image of pharmaceutical companies. An empirical analysis reveals significant moderation effects.

This research focuses on the pharmaceutical sector and the boycott of over‐the‐counter drugs.

The study results may help pharmaceutical companies develop communication responses to accusations of unethical corporate behavior.

The paper offers new insights on the effects of unethical corporate behavior on consumers, which may be useful to the crisis‐prone pharmaceutical sector.

Because steadily growing consumption is not beneficial for nature and climate and is not the same as increasing well-being, an anti-consumerism movement has formed worldwide. The renouncement of dispensable consumption will, however, only establish itself as a significant lifestyle if consumers do not perceive reduced consumption as a personal sacrifice. Since prior research has not yielded a consistent understanding of the relationship between anti-consumption and personal well-being, this paper aims to examine three factors about which theory implies that they may moderate this relationship: decision-control empowerment, market-control empowerment and the value of materialism.

The analysis is based on data from a large-scale, representative online survey (N = 1,398). Structural equation modelling with latent interaction effects is used to test how three moderators (decision-control empowerment, market-control empowerment and materialism) affect the relationship amongst four types of anti-consumption (e.g. voluntary simplicity) and three different well-being states (e.g. subjective well-being).

While both dimensions of empowerment almost always directly promote consumer well-being, significant moderation effects are present in only a few but meaningful cases. Although the materialism value tends to reduce consumers’ well-being, it improves the well-being effect of two anti-consumption styles.

Using only one sample from a wealthy country is a limitation of the study. Researchers should replicate the findings in different nations and cultures.

Consumer affairs practitioners and commercial marketing for sustainably produced, high-quality and long-lasting goods can benefit greatly from these findings.

This paper shows that sustainable marketing campaigns can more easily motivate consumers to voluntarily reduce their consumption for the benefit of society and the environment if a high level of market-control empowerment can be communicated to them.

This study provides differentiated new insights into the roles of consumer empowerment, i.e. both decision-control empowerment and market-control empowerment, and the value of materialism to frame specific relationships between different anti-consumption types and various well-being states.

The purpose of this paper was identification and empirical assessment of the differentiation of consumers' attitudes in Ukraine and Poland to Russian brands and other brands offered on the Russian market after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The main research methods include a systematic literature review and the authors' own surveys conducted in November 2022. The research sample comprised 950 consumers – 67% of them were Poles, 30% – Ukrainians and 3% from other countries.

A respondents' country (Poland and Ukraine) does not impact attitudes to brands offered on the Russian market after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Moreover, it does not affect and differentiate emotional engagement in the conflict and assistance to war victims. Cluster analysis resulted in identifying two groups on the basis of consumers' declared emotional reactions to the war. The first group was smaller (N = 353, 37.2%), referred to as “indifferent consumers”, and was characterized by a greater inclination to purchase brands offered in Russia. The other cluster, referred to as “sensitive consumers” (N = 597, 62.8%), comprises those engaged in offering assistance to war victims, showing strong emotions in connection with the aggression and military activities and characterized by a clearly negative attitude to Russian and other offered brands and an inclination to boycott these brands.

A short time horizon, the study confined to two countries, difficulties in reaching Ukrainian respondents due to power failures in Ukraine in the period of conducting the survey (November 2022), a non-representative research sample – overrepresentation of people aged 18–25 years.

The research study contributes to the knowledge about consumer brand attitudes and preferences under unique social, economic and market conditions. These conditions were created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as well as the international and global character of the war in Ukraine. The significant implications of the study refer to brand communication policies and companies' CSR-related declarations. A number of consumers' errors were recorded, resulting from wrong brand retrieval, which were rectified at a later stage as a result of international restrictions imposed on Russia, harsh media criticism and social international embargoes imposed on brands offered in Russia. The marketing communication of contemporary global brands should give consideration to the informative function of CSR activities, and the communication process should be continuous. Critical attitudes and an inclination to boycott brands point to the possible consequences faced by inconsistent and ethically doubtful brand policies. This implication is clearly confirmed by the results of the study.

The authors also wish to highlight the implications for practice and society. As mentioned earlier, Polish consumers involved in providing aid to victims of the war also expressed their opposition to the war by boycotting Russian products and international brands remaining in Russia. Popularization of the research results obtained by the authors can be a form of sensitizing the public to the need for long-term relief, awakening global awareness of the essence and importance of sanctions imposed on Russia, as well as the possibility of expressing opposition through individual purchasing decisions and boycotting brands still present in Russia.

The study allowed for identifying consumers' differentiated brand attitudes in two countries: a country inflicted by war (Ukraine) and a front-line country, strongly supporting Ukraine (Poland). The research contributes to consumer behavior theories and studies of consumer attitudes and preferences from the perspective of international corporations' CSR activities under the unique conditions of war. Also, it contributes to the knowledge of the mechanism of forming attitudes to Russian and international brands offered in Russia among CEE consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if animosity outbreaks against China result in a consumer’s reluctance to buy Chinese goods. It further studies the relationship of consumer animosity upon boycott and reluctance to buy (RTB).

A descriptive research design was applied by using the self-administered survey method for collecting data from 473 participants, mostly working graduates from the metropolitan city of Delhi in India. Thereafter, the measurement model was checked by confirming the reliability and validity of the constructs followed by checking for the strength and direction of the proposed hypothesis of the structural model (using SPSS 23 and AMOS 20) and to validate the proposed model developed based on the regret theory.

All the three types of animosity tend to negatively influence the buying behavior. When markets mature, consumers become concerned about their country’s civil status and boycott goods from hostile countries or places. Through this research, it is possible to find consequences of animosity on Chinese goods consumption, which is RTB. Boycott mediates the animosity relationship with RTB. The regret theory implies that individuals hold self-blame for taking an alternative decision. Domestic market players like local retailers, merchandisers, importers avoiding importing products originating from offending countries would be the managerial implications.

Consumer boycott is not unheard of in a Sino Indian context, but it lacks empirical research. This paper addresses perceived hostilities between two emerging super powers by applying the regret theory.